My Singles – Avinash Meetoo's Music

Bouncy (2021)

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For the first time in my life, I released a single. Bouncy is a track which I started working on a few years before but I really invested time in it in 2021. I made the decision to release it as a single because I only had one other completed track but the two didn’t really fit in a mini album. Bouncy is my first attempt at piano house and I am very happy with the fact that it has a 90s vibe in some places (because of the Korg M1 piano sample I used) and a much more modern twist elsewhere (the bassline and drums are groovy and the dubstep bridge, well, hits hard). In some ways, this release allowed me to experiment with a new way of working where the processes of composition, production, mixing and mastering are somewhat distinct. Interestingly, all of these steps are as interesting to do but each require a different mindset. I wonder whether I should not start teaching those aspects one of these days… I am sure a lot of people would like to learn how to create music.

Composed and recorded using Cockos Reaper, UVI Falcon, KV331 Audio SynthMaster 2, XLN Audio Addictive Drums 2, two samples from Cymatics and a drum loop from the Apple Logic Pro X Drummer. Hardware used include a Focusrite 2i2 Audio Interface, my old Kawai K4 and an M-Audio Oxygen 61 MK IV as controllers and a pair of Yamaha HS5 studio monitors.

Mixed using Waves SSL E-Channel channel strip, Waves Non-Linear Summer (NLS), Waves H-Comp compressor, Waves CLA-76 compressor, Waves Vitamin for harmonics, TAL-Chorus-LX, Soundtoys EchoBoy delay and Waves IR1 reverb. On the master buss, I had NLS, the extraordinary Soundtheory Gullfoss intelligent equalizer, Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor and Waves J37 tape saturation plugin.

Mastered using Tokyo Dawn Records SlickEQ Mastering, Waves L2 Ultramaximizer and Youlean Loudness Meter Pro.

Bonzour Tou Dimounn (2022)

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The UNDP Accelerator Lab for Mauritius and Seychelles was officially launched on 21 April 2021 and, for the occasion, I composed a one minute track inspired by the melody of a song acquired by UNDP for Accelerator Labs worldwide. During the next few months, I would create a much extended version of the track with a new bridge, a new chorus, me playing my trusty ravann and vocals. I felt that, while the melody was interesting, it lacked punch so I replayed it again using Roland ZENOLOGY and the JUNO-106. I asked Christina (from Mauritius), Allen (from Seychelles) and Daniel (from Rodrigues) to record a few words which I added at the end of the track. I made the decision to call the track Bonzour Tou Dimounn as this was precisely what Christina said in her take… I decided to wait until the 1st of January 2022 to release the track. 2022 needs to be a new beginning (“Bonzour”) for everyone (“Tou Dimounn”).

Composed and recorded using Cockos Reaper, Roland Cloud JUNO-106 and ZENOLOGY, me playing my trusty ravann, vocals from Christina, Allen and Daniel, a djembe sample from UVI and a hihat sample from Slate Digital. Hardware used include a Focusrite 2i2 Audio Interface, my old Kawai K4 and an M-Audio Oxygen 61 MK IV as controllers and a pair of Yamaha HS5 studio monitors.

Mixed using Waves SSL E-Channel channel strip, Waves Non-Linear Summer (NLS), Waves Brauer Motion, Waves H-Comp, Waves CLA-76, Waves Vitamin, SPL/Plugin Alliance Transient Designer Plus and Soundtheory Gullfoss for the ravann, Soundtoys EchoBoy for delay, and Waves IR1 for reverb. On the master buss, I had NLS, the extraordinary Soundtheory Gullfoss intelligent equalizer, Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor and Waves J37 tape saturation plugin.

Mastered using Tokyo Dawn Records SlickEQ Mastering, Waves L2 Ultramaximizer and Youlean Loudness Meter Pro.

California (2023)

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When I was a 10-years old child, I had a blue sweatshirt with “California” written on it. When I got to visit the state of California in 2011, I was amazed by San Francisco and I really thought that I was going to live there for some time. This did not happen but I’ll always have a soft spot for that city.

For some reason, the working title for this single has always been “California”. I was on the verge of renaming it to something more flashy but I didn’t. The track is electronic in nature but the tempo is relatively slow. I’ll say it has a progressive house and downtempo feel. While listening to it, I feel like walking on the San Francisco piers just after sunset and this is what I have tried to convey in the cover. I like the miniature effect I have used for the photo…

California has been produced using Cockos Reaper as DAW and the Roland Cloud JUNO-60, UVI Falcon, KV331 Audio SynthMaster 2 and Plugin Alliance bx_oberhausen as software instruments. I also used one kick drum sample from Wave Alchemy and LetiMix GainMatch, Plugin Alliance DS Tantra 2 (which is a magical and fun plugin) and SSL Native FlexVerb and Native Channel Strip 2 for further processing. Hardware used include a new Focusrite 4i4 Gen 3 Audio Interface, a new Akai Professional MPK mini mk3, my old Kawai K4 synthesizer and an M-Audio Oxygen 61 MK IV as controllers.

Mixed using Solid State Logic (SSL) plugins mainly including SSL Native Channel Strip 2, SSL Native X-Saturator v6 (which I have used on each channel and which made me smile) and SSL Native FlexVerb (which is very flexible and powerful). One of the tracks lacked body and I used a Native Instruments Guitar Rig 6 guitar amplifier to make it beefier. I also use the Tokyo Dawn Labs TDR Nova GE dynamic equalizer to tame down some resonances. I was quite surprised by its effectiveness.

Mastered using a fantastic chain of world-class plugins: Soundtheory Gullfoss Master (to beautify the audio), Plugin Alliance Shadow Hills Class A Mastering Comp (a great glue compressor), Plugin Alliance Black Box Analog Design HG-2MS (for a bit of saturation), Tokyo Dawn Labs TDR SlickEQ M (to slightly equalize towards a pink noise), Softube Weiss MM-1 Mastering Maximizer (for extraordinary punch!) and Tokyo Dawn Labs TDR Limiter 6 GE (to catch any misbehaving sample).

For monitoring, I relied on Waves Nx Ocean Way Nashville with Sony Professional MDR-7506 headphones. I also used Yamaha HS5 studio monitors. For metering, I have always been a Youlean Loudness Meter Pro person.